Harry's Review of the Eletre

[PsymonR]

Harry's now put up a review of the Eletre on his channel:


Seems that it is significantly hampered by its range.

 

[JClem]

So more expensive to run than my 2021 LR Disco!

 

[Cutting42]

This is pretty poor engineering I think. There is no excuse for such bad efficiency. If Tesla can make the Model X do 4 miles p/kwh the tech exists. Porsche/Audi can get close as well. I am in the market for a large electric SUV next year changin from my current Model 3 performance and was keen to try the Eletre but like Harry, the range is a deal breaker.

 

[ggazso]

Assuming Harry's experience with the Eletre's range is not a problem with the particular example he tested, it would mean the Eletre S and R would have even worse range than the base model. Lotus has to address this if the Eletre is supposed to function as the money printer to fund more exciting cars (notwithstanding their future electric nature).

 

[Panda47]

This is pretty poor engineering I think. There is no excuse for such bad efficiency. If Tesla can make the Model X do 4 miles p/kwh the tech exists. Porsche/Audi can get close as well. I am in the market for a large electric SUV next year changin from my current Model 3 performance and was keen to try the Eletre but like Harry, the range is a deal breaker.

I was all set to go for an Emeya,but now will not go ahead,maybe in time they will come up with a sensible range.

 

[Andrew P]

This is pretty poor engineering I think. There is no excuse for such bad efficiency. If Tesla can make the Model X do 4 miles p/kwh the tech exists. Porsche/Audi can get close as well. I am in the market for a large electric SUV next year changin from my current Model 3 performance and was keen to try the Eletre but like Harry, the range is a deal breaker.

I am interested to see the real world range on all these vehicles and from a variety of owners in actual use - not convinced that any of them achieve anything like their claimed range in real world conditions.
I have driven both the standard Eletre and the R and I agree with all Harry’s observations on driving the car. I tried it expecting to hate it and was amazed by how well it performed. The interior is fabulous. Whether driving it hard or cruising it is extremely capable and way above anything equivalent in my view. It corners without roll and feels like a drivers car, trying to defy the laws of physics. Is it a highly attractive sports car - obviously not, but its competition is Volvo XC90, Range Rover & similar. Taycan etc way too small for my needs.
The biggest issue (range aside, depending on your needs) is the width - I measured it as 10cm wider than my XC90 although the interior width is pretty much the same - not sure where it goes. Legroom in the rear better, boot smaller (more steeply raked) but big enough.
Will I get one? - maybe but probably wait for year 1 depreciation to hit.
I would pick the R and the 2 speed gearbox and 4 wheel steer etc do make a difference (and with 600hp through the rear wheels you can have plenty of fun especially in the wet).

 

[Roland]

I am interested to see the real world range on all these vehicles and from a variety of owners in actual use - not convinced that any of them achieve anything like their claimed range in real world conditions.
I have driven both the standard Eletre and the R and I agree with all Harry’s observations on driving the car. I tried it expecting to hate it and was amazed by how well it performed. The interior is fabulous. Whether driving it hard or cruising it is extremely capable and way above anything equivalent in my view. It corners without roll and feels like a drivers car, trying to defy the laws of physics. Is it a highly attractive sports car - obviously not, but its competition is Volvo XC90, Range Rover & similar. Taycan etc way too small for my needs.
The biggest issue (range aside, depending on your needs) is the width - I measured it as 10cm wider than my XC90 although the interior width is pretty much the same - not sure where it goes. Legroom in the rear better, boot smaller (more steeply raked) but big enough.
Will I get one? - maybe but probably wait for year 1 depreciation to hit.
I would pick the R and the 2 speed gearbox and 4 wheel steer etc do make a difference (and with 600hp through the rear wheels you can have plenty of fun especially in the wet).

Hi,

Not posted for a while.

I have an Emira V6 manual since April 23.
Took delivery of my Eletre R 20/10/23, I love the Emira, also have had 2 Tesla's for over 7 years (Aston Martin, Jags and may other cars), so pretty aware and comfortable with various cars and espicially Electric cars recently.
The Eletre R without fail is the best car I have driven, the power is incredable and the way it delivers it, its handling and comfort is so good for a car of this size and weight.
I have done a couple of long trips, to Cornwall and back from Staffordshire being one.
A Full charge gives only 254 miles, but compared to other electic cars, this is not far off real world, that weekend journey to Cornwall was motorway and dual carriareway for most of the journey with speeds around the 80 and plus a bit more. Weather was very cold and loads of rain and snow had fallen prior to arriving in Cornwall.
I did some rough calc's and with the average speed and the cold i lost between 5 and 10% range
The brakes are brillent, I have the camera wing mirrors, which I now enjoy (very adaptable with settings), took some time to get used to, you tend to look over them at first to where the normal wing mirrors would be.
Head display HUD, also takes abit to get used to, but is again great once you turn down the brightness.
The Safety features are quite painful as Harry had mentioned as you have to switch them off everytime after a journry.
Although the R has 2 gears, the power delievry which is increacble but you do get some wheel spin, the change in gear is not noticable, I have tested driven the Porsche Taycan and Audi GT (I know basically same car) is so noticable which really put me of those cars.
Hope this helps with a basic review, and my range experience, not to level of Harry but confirming a lot of comments.
Roland

 

[DF_Toronto]

Hi,

Not posted for a while.

I have an Emira V6 manual since April 23.
Took delivery of my Eletre R 20/10/23, I love the Emira, also have had 2 Tesla's for over 7 years (Aston Martin, Jags and may other cars), so pretty aware and comfortable with various cars and espicially Electric cars recently.
The Eletre R without fail is the best car I have driven, the power is incredable and the way it delivers it, its handling and comfort is so good for a car of this size and weight.
I have done a couple of long trips, to Cornwall and back from Staffordshire being one.
A Full charge gives only 254 miles, but compared to other electic cars, this is not far off real world, that weekend journey to Cornwall was motorway and dual carriareway for most of the journey with speeds around the 80 and plus a bit more. Weather was very cold and loads of rain and snow had fallen prior to arriving in Cornwall.
I did some rough calc's and with the average speed and the cold i lost between 5 and 10% range
The brakes are brillent, I have the camera wing mirrors, which I now enjoy (very adaptable with settings), took some time to get used to, you tend to look over them at first to where the normal wing mirrors would be.
Head display HUD, also takes abit to get used to, but is again great once you turn down the brightness.
The Safety features are quite painful as Harry had mentioned as you have to switch them off everytime after a journry.
Although the R has 2 gears, the power delievry which is increacble but you do get some wheel spin, the change in gear is not noticable, I have tested driven the Porsche Taycan and Audi GT (I know basically same car) is so noticable which really put me of those cars.
Hope this helps with a basic review, and my range experience, not to level of Harry but confirming a lot of comments.
Roland

I’ll second this. My dealer got a Type R as well and I was the first one to drive it. Best car I’ve ever driven hands down, other than the cost it does everything. Incredible to drive, the best and most solid/comfortable interior, all the bells and whistles plus a huge car that you can fill with passengers/luggage. We drove it around town on a very nice day for about 50 minutes and I was surprised when we got back we had only depleted the battery 5-6%. I guess real world highway may be sub 300 miles but seeing Harry’s review I was wondering if there may have somehow been something defective that particular car if that’s possible? I also wonder if that’s software fixable…

 

[gdotp]

I am interested to see the real world range on all these vehicles and from a variety of owners in actual use - not convinced that any of them achieve anything like their claimed range in real world conditions.
I have driven both the standard Eletre and the R and I agree with all Harry’s observations on driving the car. I tried it expecting to hate it and was amazed by how well it performed. The interior is fabulous. Whether driving it hard or cruising it is extremely capable and way above anything equivalent in my view. It corners without roll and feels like a drivers car, trying to defy the laws of physics. Is it a highly attractive sports car - obviously not, but its competition is Volvo XC90, Range Rover & similar. Taycan etc way too small for my needs.
The biggest issue (range aside, depending on your needs) is the width - I measured it as 10cm wider than my XC90 although the interior width is pretty much the same - not sure where it goes. Legroom in the rear better, boot smaller (more steeply raked) but big enough.
Will I get one? - maybe but probably wait for year 1 depreciation to hit.
I would pick the R and the 2 speed gearbox and 4 wheel steer etc do make a difference (and with 600hp through the rear wheels you can have plenty of fun especially in the wet).

I agree most dont but my experience of running a Polestar 2 performance and BMW i4 40 tells me it’s no worse than running an ICE car. The PS averaged 2.7 miles/kw over 20k miles and the BMW 3.6 giving respective ranges of 180 and 280. However on trips these increased to 230 and 320 if driven sensibly. I’ve run 911s, m4s etc and none matched up to anything like the manufacturer mpg claims either.
The thing that makes most difference is how you drive them. Boot it around country lanes, off roundabouts etc and the economy plummets, just as in an ICE powered car.

The real advantage, for me at least of EVs are
1. 99% of our electricity is free or 7.5p so it’s dead cheap to run
2. Service costs are negligible, and insurance is no more either (i4 is just £450)
3. They drive well and are refined (I run a sports car as well for kicks)